"Come on now, ladies…" Aeon said while wagging a finger around disapprovingly. "You don't have the time to be running around like this. Don't you only have about 5 minutes left until sir Aiden fires again?"
Of course Aeon could speak with such confidence, because Lucy and Juvia were having trouble rushing to defeat him. Had this been any other condition, no doubt the two Fairy Tail mages would've won…but it was easy for Aeon to stall them out the way he had been during this fight. "We've got to hurry…!" Lucy grunted while pushing past the pain of her injuries.
"Juvia knows!" She didn't mean to really yell at Lucy but time was running low and they couldn't afford to waste anymore. Without another word she threw her arm forward, scalding hot water extending as she began whipping her limb around wildly in attempt to strike Aeon. "Water Cane!"
Aeon extended his arms to his sides, a barrier of light appearing around his being. "A-Barrier." Juvia's Water Cane was rendered ineffective due to Aeon's barrier, just another perfect way of stalling out the battle as time was quickly running low for the mages. There was a wide grin stretching on the Hunter's lips.
"This isn't good…" Lucy grit her teeth in irritation and annoyance. Aeon wasn't even fighting them, he was just prolonging this encounter! The feeling of anxiety made her eyes flash red just briefly. She needed to do whatever it took to get Aeon out of their way, and fast...!
"Waaaaah!" Micaiah tumbled along the corridor before coming to a halt on her stomach, her rather nice rear sticking up in a comical manner. "Oof…"
"Eh…?" Lucy blinked at Micaiah's appearance. Whatever she felt in that moment was gone, and she was just confused. "Wait…I think I've seen you around before…aren't you..."
"A third lady? Oh my…I wasn't expecting to be so blessed today…" Aeon ran a hand through his hair before grinning. "Such a shame I'll have to bring harm to all three of you." With his palm extended, multiple white magic seals formed before him. "Triple A-Cannon!" And from these seals, large spheres of light rapidly shot out at all three females.
Micaiah's nose twitched at Aeon's scent, yellow eyes gleaming with some sort of excitement. "Oh…Light…" With a grin she pressed her hands to the damaged floor, creating three seals beneath herself, Lucy, and Juvia. "Shine Barrier." Barriers of light emerged from the seals, protecting the trio of females; this was only the beginning as the light used from Aeon was absorbed into the shield, which all began to focus within Micaiah's palm. "Light Beam!" Having absorbed Aeon's power, Micaiah threw her hand forward to release a gigantic beam of light that covered the entirety of the corridor, leaving no escape!
"Wha…!?" The Hunter's eyes widened at the type of intervention Micaiah possessed. The white haired male crossed his arms, grunting before he was thrown back from the power of the beam. However, before he could get too far, Juvia's watery arm wrapped around his waist along with Lucy's.
"NOW!" The two females exclaimed. In unison, they tugged the unfortunate male forward while rearing their fists back. Once Aeon was close, Lucy and Juvia slammed their fists into Aeon's face, driving him into the floor with force. Not even the prestigious Wizard Hunter was unable to survive and was KO'ed instantly.
"We got him!" Lucy cheered before turning to Micaiah. "You're with White Eclipse, right…?"
"Uh, yeah…" Micaiah rubbed the back of her neck. "Micaiah. I know who you two are…but do we have time for this…?"
"She's right. We must hurry." Juvia nodded before leading the three over to the room ahead; there were a few containment tubes that held Blues, Waiston, and Heather, all three of them unconscious. "Blues-san! There they are! We have to hurry!"
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Takeru, even in his own Shadow Drive, was not a match for the elite Wizard Hunter that was Shade. The shadow dragon lunged forward with his arm reared back, darkness wrapping around the length of his arm as he approached the vampire. "Shadow Dragon's Slash!"
"Too predictable." Shade chuckled before leaning his body to the side the instant Takeru swung, allowing the Shadow Dragon to whiff the blow by a considerable margin. Shade then parted his lips, releasing an ear splitting screech with incredible force that sent Takeru crashing into a wall. "I enjoy toying around with my food…it does work up quite the appetite…"
"Grk…" Takeru groaned while prying himself from the wall and fell to a knee, panting heavily from all the damage taken. Time was low and Selene was still in danger, and he would be damned if he let his beloved continued to be used as some tool! Just the mere thought of it boiled his blood. "Damn you…!" Without thinking he rushed forward once again, vanishing within the blink of an eye. Takeru slid past Shade while slashing him with a shadow katana, allowing the blade to disperse after contact.
"Eh…?" Shade froze for a second before his eyes widened, feeling the power of a deep slash cutting into him. A shriek of pain escaped the vampire before he turned to Takeru with blood shot eyes. "You ingrate…" Using Blood Magic, Shade was capable of clotting his wound to prevent from bleeding out; however he wasn't going to allow Takeru to live after inflicting such a wound on him.
"Unfortunately for you, I'm not interested in this fight!" He turned to the tube that contained Selene, proceeding to slam into it with his fists. "I need to break this damn thing, no matter what!"
"Assssss if I'd let you!" Shade hissed while swooping down, grabbing Takeru with his feet and throwing him into the nearest wall. "You will sssssssit there and watch the sssssshow!"
"Damn!" Takeru growled. He'd never beat Shade like this! What was he supposed to do!?
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"Wendy!" Erza was within her Giant's Armor, using the massive physical strength the armor granted to aim a series punches at the tube containing Wendy. The Sky Dragon was completely still within the tube, unaware of the efforts Erza was putting in saving her. "WENDY!" Erza's voice rose, but it wasn't working. Wendy was unconscious and the tube seemed near indestructible, not even Erza's blows were causing cracks to form in it. "Come on…" Erza grit her teeth in determination. "We've already lost Cynthia…I swear to you on my life that I will not let you go either, Wendy!"
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"Rolling Wheel!" Bass held his arms out, multiple saws composed of dark magic spinning towards Jack. These saws were very deadly and Jack knew it, which is why he was flying around to the best of his ability. However, this was ultimately a narrow hallway, and he didn't have much room to spread his wings. The best he could do was fly up and down while avoiding what he could, but he couldn't dodge forever. Several of the saws slashed into him, breaking his armor and drawing blood.
"Gh..." Jack grimaced from those hits. They felt strong, and if they were more direct, he'd probably be chopped in half. So he decided to go on the offensive, diving down towards Bass at high speeds. "Wicked Impact!"
"...!" Bass realized what Jack was trying to do, and quickly leapt backwards. He thought he would see Jack crash into the ground, but the S class was aerodynamic enough to follow him, slamming right into his chest. An explosion of Wicked Flames occured, causing Bass to fly back. "Guh...!" He tumbled along the floor for a bit, but ultimately caught himself, wincing. "Damn..."
"Hah...!" Jack said with a few soft pants. "That's another hit from my magic. I bet you feel your own magic running dry by this point!" Jack said confidently, purple embers wisping around his body. "Give it up and move out of my way already! This battle is mine!"
"Cocky little brat, aren't you? You think these conditions are enough to make a Hunter yield! I only need to defeat you before I'm out of magic. And I've got plenty to spare!" Bass pointed his hands forward, an unstable orb of crash magic appearing, coated in darkness magic as well. "B-Cannon!" What was normally a sphere turned into a widespread beam that destroyed the corridor.
"Oh shit...!" Jack crossed his arms as the B-Cannon collided against him. He dug his heels into the floor to try and avoid being swept away. The blast destroyed most of his armor, and his wings. He was taking heavy damage from the attack as well. He slid back a great distance, an eye clenched shut. "T-That all you go...!" Before he could finish, Bass appeared in front of him, slugging him in the face! Jack grunted as he flew back from this impact, tumbling along the floor before landing in a crouched position.
"I'm not done yet!" Bass pursued. Since Jack couldn't fly anymore, he intended to wrap this up. Darkness magic coated his fist, and he aimed another punch at Jack to knock him out. Unfortunately for him...
"Just because you broke my armor...doesn't mean I don't have magic!" Jack smirked and ducked low, weaving to the left of Bass' incoming punch. A purple blaze formed in his right hand, and he thrust it into Bass' stomach. "Wicked Blaze!" It was a condensed version of a large fireball attack, but perfect for what he needed. The fireball exploded strongly against Bass' stomach, inflicting heavy damage. Jack expected his opponent to fly back, but he held his ground. "Huh...!?"
And then, Bass brought his knee up to Jack's chin, slamming him hard with a sharp attack. Jack grunted as blood flew from his mouth, his head snapping backwards from the impact. Bass then spun around, linking his fingers together as he landed a successful spinning hammer fist to the side of Jack's head, sending him crashing straight into the wall at the furthest end of the corridor.
"Ack...agh..." Jack was briefly laid out, groaning from the hits. This guy was strong...
"You shouldn't have come here, kid. Staying home would've been your best choice. B-Geyser!" Bass slammed his hands on the ground, a geyser of dark magic erupting on Jack to send him flying into the air. It shook the tower slightly, destroying the remains of this single corridor. A little overkill, but Bass was willing to do whatever it took to complete a mission.
"GAAAAAAH!" Jack cried out in pain. He hit the ground, eyes heavy. His armor was broken off, leaving his chest exposed. The lower half of his armor was still intact, but barely.
"Hah..." Bass exhaled heavily. He was running low on magic thanks to Jack's attacks, but it didn't matter if he won. The only thing he had to do was finish it. He approached Jack, since he didn't have the magic left for another long range attack. "Now...it's time to put you to bed. Don't take this personally. It's just business."
Jack was breathing heavily, watching as Bass approached him. Despite his injuries, he could smirk. He planted his hand behind him as Bass and raised his hand, and... "RIGHT THERE!" Wicked flames exploded from his palm, shooting him forward as his armored leg slammed into Bass's chest. "EXPLOSIVE KICK!" Jack's momentum carried him forward, and his body was covered in Wicked Flames. He launched himself and Bass across the entire corridor, breaking through the doors on the opposite side, and into the wall. There was an explosion of Wicked Flames that occurred when Bass hit the wall, shaking the room.
"GWAAAAAAAH!" Bass' eyes were wide the moment his chest was kicked. In that split second of preparing to finish off Jack, he left himself completely open to a last second attack. He remained pushed into the slightly cratered wall, his eyes pure white to signify his KO. Because he was already weakened, that one good strike was all Jack needed to finish him off.
"Got you..." Jack said while hunched over, panting heavily. That was a harder fight than he anticipated, but... "If you thought you could stand in my my way, you had another thing coming, asshole..."
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"Mizu No Hadou!" Yumia drew one arm back, generating a sphere of water within the palm of her hand. In one swift motion she threw that arm forward, releasing the sphere towards Reiss and Tyson, aiming for the middle of them. Both Tyson and Reiss leapt off to the left and right to avoid the explosion of water that followed suit, covering the room in ankle deep water.
"What the heck…?" Reiss said while glancing around at the water. "Is that all you've got?"
Yukia giggled at Reiss' low expectations. "We're not elite Wizard Hunters for a reason, cutiepie~" The red eyed female hummed before crossing her arms and spreading them out; this action released a powerful heatwave that not only moved out to strike the two Eclipse rookies, but also increased the temperature of the water to near boiling. Yukia and her sister were fine in the scalding hot water…but for their opponents…
"Agh…!" Tyson crossed his arms, feeling the heat burn and the water making it near impossible to stand in. "This ain't good…! Fusion Make…" Tyson was about to prepare a spell…but Reiss found this to be the perfect time to swipe the spot light.
"Okay, Dune! It's your time to shine! Mud pit!" With a call of his spirit's name, Reiss finally got to showcase his magic: Native Spirit Summoning. With this call, a male with tan skin and standing six feet tall appeared, his body completely composed in a Sand Embodiment spell. With no time wasted, mud filled the room, though instantly dried and compacted by the boiling water.
"Thanks…" Tyson rolled his eyes before trying to work with a spell once again, but again, Reiss decided to move, but he ended up bumping into Tyson. "Alright, are you trying to fight!? Stop getting in my way!" Tyson turned to Reiss and the two started yelling at each other once again.
"Getting in YOUR way!?" Reiss raised a brow. "You're getting in MY way, country boy! I don't need you here! I could do this by myself!"
"In your dreams!" Tyson scoffed at Reiss, the two butting heads as comical lightning began to spark between their gazes.
Yukia and Yumia looked at each other, both sisters placing their hands on their hips and sighed in unison. "Are they serious right now?"
"I think they are…" Yumia huffed. The two sisters then joined hands, pointing their free ones forward. From their extended palms, a spiraling beam of fire and water shot out, striking bot Tyson and Reiss to snap them out of their little spat. "Hey! Don't just ignore us!"
"As fun as it would be to watch you fight each other…you don't just ignore two cute girls like us. It's totally rude." Yukia huffed while shaking her head. "It's not every day you get to dance with two lovely ladies such as ourselves; we're just too cute to be ignored!"
"And…" Yumia continued right off her sister's statement. "You don't have the time to be messing around. If all you did to come here was fight each other, why did you even show up to begin with? You're wasting our time…this is a terrible double date."
"Tch…" Reiss grunted in annoyance at the twins' words, but they were right…there was no time to be fighting with Tyson. "Wait…when did this become a date…!?"
"Idiot…" Tyson could only just shake his head.
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Marx continued to jump around the corridor, making it difficult for Pantherlily to track him. The agility of the young male was astounding and also annoying for those who had to deal with it. "Can't catch me! Can't catch me!"
"This child is annoying…!" Pantherlily grunted while attempting to follow Marx, but in the end he just received another acrobatic flip kick to his chest, sending him skidding backwards. "Ugh..!"
"Lily, are you okay!?" Happy flailed about in worry.
"I'm fine…" Pantherlily gave a firm nod before attempting to follow Marx once again. "I've gotten used to how he moves now. Watch and learn…my knight's training in Edolas and with Gajeel will not go to waste here." The onyx exceed the closed his eyes and stood completely still, not falling for the trap that was Marx's erratic movements no longer. The moment Marx lunged at him again, Pantherlily's eyes shot open and in one swift motion he slashed Marx. It all happened so quickly nobody could really tell what happened…but all they knew was that Pantherlily defeated the Wizard Hunter in one move.
"He did it!" Carla exclaimed. "I heard that one was troublesome if he got serious..."
"It's a good thing he decided he was having fun." Levy said with a small exhale. The mistake of a young wizard was their saving grace today.
"Now let's move!" Lily barked the order and everyone else followed behind him. As expected, the one that lie before them was a trapped Gajeel who was unconscious to the outside world. "Gajeel!"
"There he is…!" Levy's eyes widened at the sight before her hand clenched into a fist. "We have to save him!" She brought her hand up, quickly drawing out the word 'SWORD'. These letters attacked the tube containing Gajeel, but there was no noticeable damage dealt. "Nothing…!"
"Keep attacking!" Pantherlily exclaimed while aiming heavy swings at the tube in attempt to deal some damage, but even his strikes were rendered useless against the tube. "Damn..! Nothing is working…!"
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Minerva gave a commanding swipe of her left arm, creating yet another chain of explosions around Cain to keep him pinned down and deal significant damage. The Tigress was grinning, feeling the rush of combat finally returning to her after so long. Of course she had no intentions of just toying with her food, but Cain was proving to be a far more formidable adversary than she originally believed him to be. "Why do you continue to pester me and not crawl on the floor like the worm you are?" As she asked this, a whip of territory extended from her arm, grabbing onto Cain's wrist. She swung him around a few times before harshly slamming him into the ground.
Cain coughed, finding himself outmatched despite being one of the leading men of the Wizard Hunters. Minerva was truly a fearsome foe…but there was a violent tremor that hated everything going on within the tower. Cain knew exactly what it was that meant, and a sly grin began to stretch along his lips. "Such harsh words from an even harsher woman…but no matter. For I've done what I need to do today. My goal was never victory."
"W-What's going on…?" Frosch asked timidly, looking around as the entire structure of the building continued to tremble. "Fro is scared…"
"I don't like the way this is looking…" Lector grumbled feeling the exact way Frosch was at this moment.
Minerva narrowed her eyes at Cain's words. "You'd never reach victory so long as I stand before you. But what are you...?"
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Emeraude watched as Alex and Hyde were duking it out, all while Aiden's attention was on the timer.
Alex spun around Hyde, aiming a spinning backhand towards Hyde's vulnerable back. She expected it to be a direct hit, since that was his weakness. However, imagine her surprise when her fist fazed right through him. "What!? That's supposed to work...!"
"You foolish girl!" Hyde smirked at Alex's surprise, spinning around and pressing his cane to her chest. "Phantom Blast!" An explosion of ghostly magic erupted from the tip of his cane, throwing Alex backwards. She hit the opposing wall with a harsh crash. "Do you you think I've twiddled my thumbs as of late!? I've honed my strength. I am a true Phantom. You are fighting a ghost. You will never hit me."
"Ow..." Alex winced from Hyde's attack. She wasn't going to give up, though. "Striking your back was your weakness, because it meant you were off guard. That's the best way to fight a ghost. So you've just gotten more situational awareness." She used the back of her hand to wipe away some blood on her lips. "I'm not just some lab rat anymore..." She sprinted forward once again.
"You are a foolish girl." Hyde scoffed, unmoving as Alex approached. "You repeat the same acts over and over again, all devoid of any creativity!" As he said this, Alex swung her fist upward for a rising uppercut, but as everyone expected, Hyde's body fazed right through it until her arm passed him.
Alex smirked at this, however. "Stone Dragon's Ascent!" Right after the motion of her uppercut, sharp stones began to rise up from the ground, stabbing and pelting Hyde. He was completely unfamiliar with Alex's dragon slayer moveset, and as such, he paid the price in this moment.
"Tch! You blasted girl!" Hyde grunted, using his cane to swat and strike down the sharp bits of stone that were plaguing him. Unfortunately, by the time he finished that, Alex was already to his left, her cheeks inflated.
"Earth Dragon's ROAR!" She exhaled, a torrent of dirt, rock, and earth spewing forward to collide against Hyde for a direct hit. This pushed him back across the room. Emeraude was nearly in the crossfire, but she quickly stepped to the side to avoid being swept up in the chaos.
"Guuuuh!" Hyde snarled as he was launched backwards by Alex's roar, but he swung his cane to slice the remainder of it in half. "Allow me to unveil one of my newest tricks!" Two more copies of Hyde appeared alongside him, and they all proceeded to dash towards Alex. "Phantom Dash!"
"Uh...!" Alex wasn't sure what to make of this. One of the incoming Hydes was about to hit her, so she crossed her arms, only to feel a cold chill as the copy simply flew right through her. She couldn't take the risk with the second one, so she jumped to the side, only for the third to be the true assailant, slamming into her and sending her sprawling into the floor. "Oof..."
Hyde landed in front of Alex, his cane sparking with magic, and he lifted it upwards. "Phantom Burst!" An eruption of magic consumed Alex while lifting her into the air, breaking apart some of her armor. Since that was some of her own body, it definitely hurt her quite a bit.
Alex flipped and landed on the ground, but she was on a knee. She panted heavily, her red hair messily covering her face. "D-Damn..."
"Do you see? You have no hope of defeating me." Hyde said while dusting himself off. "Prototype is fitting for you, because you've always been one of falling short of people's expectations. That is why I recommended you to be the initial test subject."
"W-What are you talking about?" Alex glared towards Hyde, struggling to make her way back to her feet.
"You could consider it a deleted scene from your memory, since you were young. But the moment you and Cynthia became close, I suggested to Aiden that you be a backup plan. A prototype for a failsafe in case her power went out of control during testing." Hyde's cane hit his palm a few times. "Unfortunately, you were completely useless. I see not much has changed since then."
"..." Emeraude remained silent the whole time, arms crossed as she glanced between Alex and Hyde.
"Y-You mean...you're the reason...?" Alex's eyes narrowed at this revelation. His words did sting as well, because her initial pain against Cynthia was that she was cast aside for her. But it was never Cynthia's fault. It was Hyde and Aiden's...! However, before she could say anything more, the tower itself began to shake violently.
"What's this shaking…?" Emeraude asked Hyde and Aiden, both of whom wore knowing smirks on their lips.
"It looks as though all is finally going according to plan…" Hyde chuckled manically, glad to know that for once, a script that he wrote was finally going to see it's intended conclusion."
"How disappointing…" Aiden shook his head, pressing his finger down on a button that presented his image all over Fiore. "Oh, Fiore…I'm so disappointed in you. I gave you plenty of time to respond to me, yet I got nothing. So you know what this message means now, right…? It means that your time…is up, Fiore." With another button press, the cannon sitting at the top of the tower began to gather the magic from all the Dragon Slayers that were captured, all of it massing into a gigantic helix in the sky ranging from nearly all of the elements. Its power was greater than that of the Etherion Cannon and it was without a doubt going to destroy the country if it touched the ground…
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Just outside the tower on a cliff, Rose and Kyouka stood together; watching as the cannon was preparing to fire the massive helix of dragon slaying magic. Kyouka tapped her chin with one of her claws, letting out a slightly exasperated sigh. "It appears we were slightly too late to avoid this little danger…but no matter, for Tartarus will be safe from this destructive aftermath…" The Demon Gate then turned to Rose, gently brushing her hair with the back of her claws. "Now little Rose, you were quite in a hurry to come over here nonetheless. Do you want to fulfill your mission that badly? You haven't even had proper rest yet."
Rose stayed silent before shooing Kyouka's hand away from her, red eyes staring intently at the tower. "I just want…to get this over with. Got that?" Her tone was a little sharp and demanding, as if she actually held authority.
"Mhmhm…" The sensory demon chuckled at Rose's tone. Oh, she was going to enjoy having this one around. "Whatever suits you best, little Rose. Of course, I do hope there are some interesting targets in there to play with~"
And just marching towards the tower from the north were a horde of Councilmen led by Lahar himself. Of course they were too late and could only watch in horror as the helix of dragon slaying magic rose into the sky, steadily descending down. "Come on men, we must hurry!" His order exclaimed, the Captain continued on his way to apprehend the criminals responsible for this mess.
Multiple parties approaching the tower for their own interests…but their time is up. What can possibly save Fiore now?
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Next Time: Eclipse Soul.